[lively music] Greetings to everyone in the Erie region.

As always, I will start this State of the City update with three thank-you's.

First, thanks to Tom New and WQLN for having me back to present this year's State of the City Address.

Second, thanks to my family, especially my wife, Rhonda, and our children, Jamie, Jody, and Joe.

They continue to be very patient with my crazy busy schedule.

They are also very helpful to me with communications like this speech and social media posts.

Third, thanks to the leadership and the hard work that is done every day by all employees of the city of Erie.

I am blessed with an incredible and very diverse mayor's office staff led by Renee Lamis.

I've never worked with anyone who works as hard or cares as much as Renee Lamis does.

The planning work that Kathy Wyrosdick and her team do is transforming Erie.

More on that later.

Michael Outlaw and Niken Astari Carpenter are working hard every day to eliminate racism and prejudice in Erie.

Their work in the community is making every Erie resident feel welcome and accepted for the unique talents and skills that each one possesses.

Aaron Loncki is organizing incredible events and helping to communicate important tools and resources, while Frank Strumila is establishing a strong social media presence and keeping us connected to the community.

Margie Bruce and Kat Blair do a great job keeping us organized and making sure we address the important issues and questions.

And any citizen who has any questions or concerns should contact Mas Sala at our Citizens Response Center.

Mas will get you an answer very quickly.

All you have to do is call Mas at [814] 870-1111.

I also want to thank our department heads, Chief Dan Spizarny and chief Joe Walco doing an incredible job leading our two most important teams that protect and keep the people very safe, the police department and the fire department.

Public works is another important department in serving the residents of Erie.

Chuck Zysk and A.J.

Antolik are outstanding leaders in Public Works.

Managing finance is also very important.

Paul Lichtenwalter does a great job of making sure our revenue and spending are in order.

I also want to thank Connie Cook for her team's fine work, running our understaffed human resources group, and Ed Betza for the legal guidance he and his team provide us.

There are many other city employees doing great work.

You'll hear more about some of them later in this presentation.

COVID-19 continue to have a huge impact on what we did and learned in 2021.

We lost three great city employees to COVID.

Two were police officers, 56 year old Sergeant Gary Taccone, who was recognized for his heroism and 47 year old Officer Jason Belton, who was one of our beloved downtown bicycle cops.

The third was 59 year old Dana Stovall.

Dana always had a smile on his face and gave pleasant greetings to everyone as he moved around City Hall every day.

Now here's a challenge for you: Help us put an end to COVID in 2022.

To do that, we need everyone to get vaccinated.

Until we have at least 85% vaccinated to avoid as much face to face contact with people we don't live with as possible.

Let's attend meetings by phone or on Zoom.

When we must be around people we don't live with, please, wear a mask and keep at least six feet distance.

When you are feeling sick, please stay home.

Every resident can now get four free COVID test mailed to them to their home, by going to the website, www.usps.com/COVID test.

We currently have about 56% of Erie county residents fully vaccinated.

My goal is that we have at least 85% of Erie County residents vaccinated by June 30th, 2022.

Let's make that happen and make COVID become a distant memory.

As Mayor of Erie, I am committed to always being open, honest, transparent, and accessible in everything that I do and say.

That remains my approach and will not change as long as I serve you as mayor of Erie.

Everything that my team and I do is based on our mission and our vision.

The mission is just six words: Build opportunity, restore hope, transform Erie.

Our vision is two sentences.

Erie is a community of choice.

We celebrate our rich cultural diversity, our welcoming, vibrant neighborhoods.

Our world-class downtown in Bayfront, our excellent education for everyone, and our abundance of good family sustaining jobs.

Now for the remainder of this speech, I will first tell you about major accomplishments by departments, by department that my team achieved during 2021.

Then I will conclude the speech with my team's major goal for Erie over the next eight years.

Chief Dan Spizarny and his team at the Erie Police Department were very busy throughout 2021.

They received 52,126 calls for assistance.

They also recorded 93,807 videos related to incidents that had occurred.

These videos from cameras worn by police officers or on police cars provided major evidence related to incidents that occurred in Erie by showing illegal actions, suspects resisting arrest, and officers engaging in heroic actions, such as providing first aid and CPR to individuals and comforting victims of crimes and accidents.

I am happy to tell you that all but two of the major crime categories were down in 2021.

The two that were up though, are a concern.

They were shots fired, which was 311, and people shot, which was 72.

Those are way too high.

I'll explain later how we will use ARP funding to drastically reduce the number of shots fired and the number of people shot here in Erie.

I am also proud that we received only 13 citizen complaints in 2021.

One of those 13, only two were use of force complaints and having worn body cameras and looking at the footage was critical in showing that the officers acted appropriately in both of those incidents.

Our police department also had a great year bringing in grants totaling just over $3.9 million.

This funding paid for community policing initiatives, much needed equipment, and some officers' salaries and overtime.

I also must mentioned that the work that community liaison, Michael Outlaw, Sergeant Tom Lennox and Sergeant Jamie Russo all over with over 80 other Erie police officers, their work to build better relationships with our minority communities through two programs, the Police Athletic League or PAL for short, and the Community Outreach Program or COP for short.

Erie police are building close relationships with over 600 students in Erie public schools.

I got to personally experience these great relationships just before Christmas, when I accompanied Sergeant Lennox and two other officers, as they delivered small presents to many students on Erie's lower east side.

I was amazed to see the strong bonds that are developing between our officers and our youth.

A vast majority of these children are minorities, and many of them want to become police officers when they grow up.

This is very positive for Erie's future.

Back in January of 2020, we announced a goal of increasing the minority candidates, taking the written and physical police tests to 15%.

I'm happy to tell you that thanks to the work of recruitment coordinator, Sergeant Tom Lennox, the number of minority candidates taking the 2021 police exam last year increased to 30%.

Back in 2018, we were selected by the US Department of Justice to be the pilot city for their new Strengthening Police Community Partnership Council, that's SPCP for short.

They were so impressed by what we were accomplishing compared to other cities that in May of 2021, Attorney Steven R. Kauffman came back to Erie to present us with certificates of commendation.

They also spend time studying how we have been so successful implementing and sustaining our program.

The Department of Justice is using what they learned from us to help other cities build better police/community relationships.

The city of Erie also hired strategic consulting partners at the end of last year.

They will be analyzing city policies, programs, and procedures to identify any inherent racism and to ensure that we are promoting diversity, equity and inclusion as a natural part of how the city functions.

Let's move on to the fire department.

Fire chief Joe Walco, assistant chief Len Trott, and their team of firefighters responded to over 6,500 calls for service in 2021.

You may not realize this, but the firefighters are usually the first responders to medical emergencies in the city.

I had an opportunity when I was riding with the Erie ambulance service last summer to see our firefighters in action, trying to save the life of a man whose heart had stopped on Erie's lower east side.

It was incredible to see how hard these firefighters worked, trying to get this man to start breathing again.

They were well underway when we arrived and they continue to work nonstop for 30 minutes while we were there.

This gave me a whole new perspective on the work our firefighters do.

Renee Lamis and I got a tour of all our firehouses last summer.

We could not believe the bad shape they are in.

The firefighters created a list of problems and rated them from one to three with the ones being the most urgent problems to fix.

Public Works is creating a plan to correct all those worst problems.

We expect to have all number one issues addressed by the end of 2022.

The firefighters are also doing a good job, getting grants to purchase much needed firefighting equipment and apparatus.

In addition to the over $1 million that Abby Skinner helped that received, they got an additional $100,000 on their own.

Like the police, our firefighters have also been reaching out to build relationships with children in Erie's public schools.

They participated with the police in the summer snack patrol, where they went to inner city neighborhood parks.

On those hot summer days, the children really appreciated the shower of water that the firefighters provided by opening up the fire hydrants.

These summer snack patrol activities more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.

Niken Astari Carpenter has done a great job building strong relationships with immigrants, refugees, and new Americans.

Niken helps them adjust to life here.

She has formed a great committee that meets regularly and provides very useful input.

One of the things I look forward to the most every month is going to the federal courthouse with Niken to welcome the new Americans to Erie at their swearing-in ceremony.

It makes me feel closer to my grandparents who came here from Sicily.

Niken is committed to and does a great job of helping immigrants, refugees, and new Americans and making them feel welcome here in Erie.

2021 was the first full year for Erie's Department of Planning and Neighborhood Resources led by Planning Director, Kathy Wyrosdick.

Kathy's our first planning director.

She created the new first ever historic Review Commission with dedicated preservation planner to advance preservation efforts here in Erie.

The Planning Department completed strategic plans for Academy/Marvintown and Fairmont/McClellan neighborhoods.

They also created a property conditions database, launched Erie's Groundwork Trust, and started the Love Your Block program.

The Groundwork Erie Trust will improve Erie's environment through youth development and leadership programs.

Love your block will provide grants for home repairs and provide direct staff through our LYB Fellow and AmeriCorps Vista.

Planning will also have a transformational impact on how we will spend ARP funding, which I'll talk about at the end.

Our Planning Department will also use sophisticated GIS technology to support neighborhoods, tackle blight, and promote plans that rebuild Erie's economy.

They received $405,000 in five direct grants to upgrade their technology and improve Erie neighborhoods.

Planning will be accomplishing great things during 2022.

Next, the city's Public Works Department led by Chuck Zysk and A.J.

Antolik, also continues their incredible work in Erie.

They submitted a list of 31 accomplishments in 2021, and I won't have time to review all 31, but here are seven of the most impactful.

First, Public Works implemented the first ever security system for City Hall.

This is something the city probably should have had 20 years ago.

It makes City Hall much safer for employees and for visitors.

Second, public works led our efforts to establish a satellite courtroom in city council chambers in City Hall.

This is a win-win as it will help to alleviate the caseload at the county courthouse.

Third, as a result of Public Works renegotiating the PennDOT Winter Maintenance Agreement.

We will be receiving an additional $1.9 million in reimbursement from the Commonwealth.

Fourth, Public Works led by the Chief Engineer, John Toshack got the unsafe and unsightly Kahkwa bridge demolished.

We expect that bridge to be replaced with a much nicer pedestrian and vehicle bridge during 2023.

Fifth in 2021, Public Works compost was certified and they began selling it for the first time.

For 2022, they're developing a business model to generate more sales going forward.

Sixth, public works worked with Rick Griffith and the Leaf Board of Directors to get the grift slides installed at Frontier Park.

Seventh, they have also been working on other parks, including adding public art, making improvements at Bayview Park, installing a playground at McClellan Park and working with residents to add six regulation sized pickleball courts at Baldwin Park.

Time does not permit me to mention any more of the achievements of our Public Works Department last year, but I can tell you that they are continuing to do many worthy projects during 2022.

Mas Sala has also done another great job in 2021 running our Citizen Response Center.

He received 5,396 calls last year.

That's about 103 per week.

His busiest month was August with 630 calls.

The vast majority of Mas' calls deal with community issues ranging from property maintenance to problems such as a loose manhole cover, tall grass in the summer, snow removal needs in the winter, a dead animal in the road, Questions or concerns about events in Erie.

For 2022, once we have COVID-19 under control, Mas' goal is to become much more visible in the community with meetings face-to-face with residents.

Mas does a great job of getting back to people quickly.

I encourage everyone to call Mas with any questions, issues, or input about city services at that easy to remember number, 814-870-1111.

Our Department of Economic and Community Development led by Deborah Smith also continues to do amazing things.

Over the last four years, they have administered total DECD grants of over $36 million.

During 2021, the Department of Economic and Community Development received 20 new grants totaling over $7.2 million.

One of the new things that we had to offer in 2021 was the KIVA, K I V A Loan Program.

These loans primarily assist women, immigrants, refugees, and minority owned businesses that are just getting started.

There is no interest or fee on these loans.

Jennifer Hoffman manages our KIVA Loan Program.

Jennifer made the first Kiva loan in March of 2021 and completed 14 of them totaling $91,000 by the end of the year.

We have renewed our Kiva contract for three more years and have a paid additional matching funding for applicants.

To learn more about KIVA, contact the city of Erie Business Development Officer, Jennifer Hoffman at erie@local.kiva.org To apply, visit kiva.org/borrow.

For the last 10 years, Erie along with 506 other cities, has been rated by the Municipality Equality Index Scorecard, which evaluates how city laws, policies, and services treat LGBTQ+ people.

In 2017, our rating was 29 out of a possible 100.

I'm happy to tell you that in 2021, our rating was raised to 86.

We will not be satisfied though, until we get to 100.

I also want to thank my Chief of Staff, Renee Lamis for creating an open, transparent process for appointments to serve on city authorities, boards, and commissions.

It is now a wide open process in which applicants are accepted and candidates are interviewed.

Our goal is to appoint a diverse group of people with the skills needed by each board.

Next in the summary of 2021 accomplishments, I want to share some details on something that we expect to have a transformational impact on Erie for generations to come.

It is the $76 million in ARP funding that we were awarded from the federal government.

By the end of 2021, after much planning, research, and numerous study sessions with city council, we successfully obligated the $76 million in ARP funding as follows: $20.7 million will be used for economic and community development, $14.6 million for housing renovations, and first time buyer assistance, $12.8 million for storm water, sanitary sewer, and wastewater infrastructure, $14.1 million for public safety.

This funding will increase our community's police initiatives by reinstating the crisis car and the juvenile unit to respond to issues of domestic violence, drug, and alcohol abuse, homelessness and juvenile crime.

This funding should help us greatly reduce the number of people shot in Erie.

$8.2 million for improvements to parks, public spaces, greenways and neighborhood revitalization, $4.5 million in revenue replacement, and $975,000 for information technology.

Qualified Erie residents, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and community groups can apply for funding.

For more information, please visit cityofErie, cityof.erie.pa.US/arp.

To help us get input on allocating or promoting all this funding, we also created the DEI project review team and the ARP council of advisors.

These two teams are made up of a diverse group of people who will ensure that Erie positions itself for an inclusive and equitable recovery.

Can you imagine what an incredible place this would be if we build an Erie where everyone is accepted, regardless of their race, religion, gender, ethnicity, heritage, age, or the color of their skin.

The city also was allocated an additional $2,932,681 in September of 2021 in home ARP funds.

These funds may be used to provide housing services and shelter to vulnerable populations, including individuals experiencing homelessness.

Eligible activities for this include tenant based rental assistance, development of affordable housing, supportive services to individuals or families not receiving such support, housing counseling, homeless prevention services, acquisition and development of non-congregate shelter services.

Next, I want to acknowledge the great work that is happening in the four blocks north of Perry Square between P street and Holland street.

First Beacon Communities, which now owns the Richford Arms are investing $25 million to renovate and add more capacity to their apartments.

This work is already underway.

The other three blocks north of Perry square are also being transformed by the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, which was formed by Erie Insurance and is led by John Purseir.

If you have not eaten the meal at the Flagship City Food Hall yet, I encourage you to go down and experience that.

There has never been anything like it in Erie.

This will also give you a good glimpse of all the work going on in these three blocks.

That concludes a high level summary of everything that was accomplished in Erie during 2021.

Before I talk really about our biggest goal going forward, I want to recognize and thank over 650 city employees who have continued to work day in and day out in the midst of the pandemic.

Throughout 2021, city employees worked together and helped each other, but through it all, they serve the residents, keeping us safe by protecting us, paving, clearing snow, picking up refuse, maintaining parks, revitalizing neighborhoods, and helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and community organizations every day.

I'm very proud of the new LERTA that we implemented two and a half years ago on July 3rd, 2019.

It has been very successful, bringing in 282 new permit applications, totaling over $139 million.

That's divided into 85 commercial permits, totaling almost $126 million and 197 residential applications, totaling $13.5 million.

This is bringing more jobs and more people to Erie.

My team and I are very proud of the huge positive impact this will have on Erie's real estate revenue beginning in about eight years.

I also want to recognize how Chris Growder is helping Erie grow with his revolving loan funds and grants.

In 2021, Chris and his team made 12 loans to Erie businesses, totaling almost $2.4 million.

Chris has more than doubled this loan fund to $14.3 million since he took over in 2018.

Chris has also made nine CARES Act for forgivable loans, totaling $212,000.

Chris also created the Flagship Fund and has made 61 grants totaling $149,300 in the first five rounds.

In 2021, he made 34 grants totaling $74,300.

Finally, today I want to set a very specific goal for what I believe the city of Erie can accomplish over the next eight years.

Erie has lost over 40,000 people over the last 50 years.

Through all the work we are doing and the ARP funding we are making, it is possible to acquire and demolish blighted homes and industrial properties, offer home ownership incentive programs, provide loans and grants for home renovations, provide small businesses and entrepreneurs with grants, loans, and technical assistance, develop our urban core, revitalize our parks with input from residents, implement neighborhood plans and the Active Erie Transportation plan, deploy public safety initiatives.

This will bring more family sustaining jobs and more people to Erie, but I want to be very specific.

So here's my goal.

Over the next eight years, let's transform Erie by bringing more jobs and at least 10,000 more people to Erie.

Now, the first step in accomplishing this is ending COVID-19 at Erie.

Let's do that by getting at least 85% of Erie area residents vaccinated by June 30th, 2022.

I hope you will join us in living our mission, which is to build opportunity, restore hope, transform Erie, so that we can create our vision that Erie is a community of choice.

We celebrate our rich cultural diversity, our welcoming, vibrant neighborhoods, our world-class downtown and bay front, our excellent education for everyone and our abundance of good, family sustaining jobs.

Thank you for your support as we continue on our journey to transform Erie.

We still have a lot of work to do.

I appreciate your help as we move forward.

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